Ferdinand's reaction to being appointed as England's captain in France has gone down well with Fabio Capello. Photograph: Shaun Botterill / Getty

Rio Ferdinand has emerged as Fabio Capello's preferred choice as England captain after impressing the national head coach with his form for club and country since the Italian took up the reins at Soho Square in the autumn.

The Manchester United defender wore the armband for the friendly defeat in France and, although Capello is likely to continue with his policy of experimenting with various captains during the summer internationals against the United States and Trinidad & Tobago, he is leaning towards appointing Ferdinand on a long-term basis when qualifying begins this year for the 2010 World Cup finals.

Ferdinand was a somewhat controversial choice to take on the leadership role against the French given his occasionally chequered past, not least the eight-month ban for missing a routine drugs test which he served some four years ago and which cost him a place at Euro 2004. However, Capello believes the 29-year-old's form at club level has reached new levels - United have conceded only 19 Premier League goals to date this season, with Ferdinand outstanding alongside Nemanja Vidic - and now considers him one of the best defenders in the world.

The coach was similarly impressed with Ferdinand's reaction, both on and off the pitch, to being appointed for the friendly at Stade de France in Paris, despite England's 1-0 defeat. The centre-half said this week: "You don't set out in your career or at the start of every season for personal accolades; you set out to achieve things as a team. If personal accolades come after that, or during it, then great, but that is not top of my agenda.

"I want to be a successful player and I want to win more and more trophies. I am greedy. I want to win the Premiership every year, I want the European Cup every year and I want to win things with England.

"Being captain for England the once so far was great. Likewise, being skipper at United is absolutely fantastic. Whenever I pull that armband on it is a proud moment for me and my family, because of the long line of illustrious people who have worn it before me. But all that is diminished if we aren't successful in that time. Success as a team is paramount. Winning the league and then to win the Champions League is what I want to round off the season."

The choice of Ferdinand would disappoint both Liverpool's Steven Gerrard, who led out Capello's first side for the friendly against Switzerland in February, and in particular John Terry, Steve McClaren's regular incumbent. However, the new head coach is still assessing just how integral a role the Chelsea centre-half will play in his setup. Terry may yet be handed the armband for one of the two summer internationals, and Capello is also keen to assess Owen Hargreaves and, potentially, the Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry in the role. However, Ferdinand is expected to lead the side out against the Czech Republic on August 20 at the start of next season.

"For that game I plan to have my permanent England captain in place," Capello said yesterday. "As I say, a captain needs to set an example on the pitch, be a leader, help the rest of the team. But at the same time he needs to be a model outside the pitch and outside football as well."

It seems likely that David Beckham will have a considerable role to play in the qualifying campaign for 2010, with Capello suggesting yesterday that he could play on until the tournament, scheduled for South Africa. Yet that promise was issued on the proviso that the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder's fitness is maintained while playing in Major League Soccer.

Asked whether Beckham's England career was close to being over after he gained his 100th cap in the France game, Capello replied: "It's still open. He played in the last game, he did well against France, and I sometimes go to see him in Los Angeles. It all depends. There are players who at 33 or 34 take good care of themselves. They understand that the body is not as it was and they take more care. It depends a lot on that."